I think you'll find its not billionaires stopping that, its elected officials.

Yes their are. Majority of elected officials are just their instrument. The amount of money billionaires spend shaping media, lobbying and campaigns to get power and push propaganda to determine who is elected makes the fight to get people like AOC who are working in the interest of society so much harder.

> people like AOC who are working in the interest of society

People like AOC just pander to uneducated populace who'd prefer to use force to take free stuff of other people who work instead of working themselves.

Very easy to keep electing such politicians — just continue giving out more free stuff, so that people think it's the norm, and working is not required, just always taking is fine. People will vote accordingly

That's a grim view on a politician who - looking from the outside - is just thinking and talking like a normal human.

There are a lot of fine shades between a free riding communism and cut-throat capitalism. Finding workable balances is a key aspects of politics.

> use force to take free stuff of other people who work instead of working themselves.

Funny, to me this describes the investor class.

I'd really love to understand why you see it that way. In what way do investors force anybody to do anything?

Buy up all the property in an area and raise the rents in order to force other people to give them their hard earned cash so that they can spend it on a yacht in Monaco.

They don't force anybody though. People who think that the renting is too expensive and is not worth paying, are free to either 1) move to a place that has cheaper rent, or 2) build a new house from scratch since it's cheaper than renting.

Price of rent increasing in desirable locations is not due to greed or collusion of bad actors (as long as government prevents monopolies), it's due to more people competing to live in a place that can house only a limited number. Of course everybody wants to live in big cities in the US. But rent is very cheap in dying small towns in the middle of nowhere.

>Of course everybody wants to live in big cities in the US. But rent is very cheap in dying small towns in the middle of nowhere.

Another reason why WFH should become more of the norm, it will help solve the issue of expensive housing an rent since it means people could live in these less expensive towns and still be able to work.

That’s also true of companies that AOC wants to raise taxes on. She’s not forcing anyone to pay those taxes. Companies that don’t want to pay those taxes are free to relocate away from America, abandon selling to the US market, and cut themselves off from the American labor supply. Of course every company wants to be successful in big cities in America. But taxes are very low in dying small countries in the middle of nowhere.

What did she give away for free and how can I get more of it?

Other people's money.

Free stuff like roads and schools? Or free stuff like polluted water and air?

You are soooo close!

This sort of comment does not belong on hacker news.

To understand why the two are one and the same, is first to understand that the US is a plutocracy.

Or even better, a world where billionaires aren't able to exist.

There needs to be a wealth maximum, afterwards you just get taxed 100%.

I agree with the sentiment, but taxation isn’t the answer. Govt is just as irresponsible as any corporation. Taxation winds up just being a way to manipulate interest rates.